Prequel, you say? Brad Pitt and Ryan Reynolds’ John Wick-like comedy gets a left-field pitch
Brad Pitt and Ryan Reynolds’ Bullet Train might not be a one-way trip after all: a co-star has pitched a prequel focused on her character’s past.
If you fancied Bullet Train — the star-packed, highly caffeinated assassin comedy from 2022 — you might be in for a bit more chaos, if Joey King gets her way. Apparently, she’s got her sights set on a prequel spinoff all about her character, the endlessly duplicitous and slightly terrifying Prince. Oddly enough, this idea didn’t bubble up out of nowhere; it came about while King was chatting with her Practical Magic 2 co-star Maisie Williams, who seemed convinced that there’s still plenty left to squeeze out of the Bullet Train world. Frankly, I’d agree — if only to see how many more characters can meet truly absurd ends via misfortune, explosives, or, as King herself puts it, ‘that truck.’
Joey King told ScreenRant she thought a prequel exploring The Prince's backstory ‘would be fun’, noting her character either ‘died or got really mangled’ at the end of the first film: ‘There’s definitely room to do something before that truck hitting me.’
The Prince’s Return?
King didn’t bother pretending she had second thoughts about a comeback. When asked which roles she’d go back to if she could, she threw Prince’s name straight out — no hesitation, no standard actorly waffling. She’s well aware the original film’s ending is rather final for her character, but thinks a prequel set before all that would sidestep any narrative headaches. You wouldn’t have to unpick the final scene with a time machine or something silly; just wind back the clock and let The Prince stir up more trouble before she (possibly) bought it under a lorry’s wheels.
Bullet Train landed in cinemas August 2022 and notched up a 53% critic score from 340 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
Bigger Cast, Wilder Plot
For a refresher, Bullet Train was helmed by David Leitch — the bloke behind a few John Wick entries and Deadpool 2 — and took a classic heist-gone-sideways plot, slapped it on a Japanese high-speed train, then cast Brad Pitt as Ladybug, a reluctant assassin who can’t string together a quiet day even if his life depends on it (spoiler: it does). The carnage unfolds as he runs into an ever-increasing roster of would-be killers, played by a frankly absurd number of big names: Ryan Reynolds (uncredited but there), Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Michael Shannon, Sandra Bullock, and of course King herself.
Critics thought it was a bit of a mess (the Rotten Tomatoes average landed somewhere just above halfway), but audiences enjoyed it a good deal more, clocking the film at 76 percent positive from regular viewers. As for the potential prequel, it’s up to the studio now whether they want to double down and wade further into the madness with King’s scheming sociopath taking centre stage.